


The Time Traveller's Bug

by Vinnocent



Category: Booster Gold (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alcohol, Awkward Romance, Character Death, Drunk Sex, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Non-Explicit Sex, Open Relationships, Polyamory, Self-Sacrifice, Suicide, Time Travel, Vomiting, sad fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 03:10:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7996408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vinnocent/pseuds/Vinnocent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one thing Ted Kord knows is that he can’t let Booster Gold die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Time Traveller's Bug

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mademoisellePlume](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mademoisellePlume/gifts).



> This work contains some scenes which are taken directly from Booster Gold vol. 2
> 
> It also contains spoilers for: Countdown, 52, and Booster Gold

It’s not how he meets him. Thank god. That would’ve been awkward and confusing. But Ted Kord still hasn’t known Michael Jon Carter very long when he dies in his arms. Ted isn’t sure what he’s supposed to think or feel about this. He barely knows this man. But he helps Rip Hunter incinerate the body. (“I… need the bones,” Hunter had said. “Please don't ask why.”) There's an impromptu funeral by the smoking pyre, and he helps Michelle Carter and Rani say their nice words, but his own are a lot more shallow. He likes Michael. Underneath all of Booster’s bravado is the real Gold, and it genuinely warms Ted’s heart when he catches glimpses of it. But he doesn’t actually know him, and he definitely doesn’t know this 50- or 60-something-years-old man with gray hair and weathered skin and spiderwebs of scars across his body and laugh lines around his mouth and eyes.

Rip puts a hand on his shoulder and gives him condolences, saying he knows how much Booster will mean to him and to try not to think about it too much, and Ted has no idea what he’s supposed to think or feel. All he knows is that this is not his Booster Gold. This is an old man from the future.

Which gives Ted approximately thirty-to-forty years to figure out how to save Booster Gold.

When he comes back to the JLI headquarters, he takes the roof entrance, carefully avoids any teammates or embassy staff, and sneaks into his room there. He cannot peel his clothes off fast enough, dumping them in the laundry basket after briefly considering dumping them in the garbage, and immediately sitting under the shower until the water runs cold and he's dead certain that he doesn't smell like toasty corpse anymore. 

Once clean and dressed again, he heads downstairs and gravitates immediately to Michael, who’s arguing with Guy Gardner about the TV programming. He’s young and tanned with thick golden hair and sparkling blue eyes and smooth skin. No laugh lines yet, but when he teases Guy, Ted can see where they’re going to be. He’s full of ego, innuendo, and bravado, and one day he’s going to be a hero of time. Go figure. Probably a much bigger deal than Ted himself. Ted feels… oddly proud to know him. To have been one of his partners in “the early days.”

Michael gives up the argument when Fire steals the remote from both of them, and he collapses next to Ted on the couch. Guy makes exactly the wrong comment - _again_ \- and now he and Fire are into it while Ice takes the remote and she and Black Canary start flipping channels. “What?” Michael asks when he realizes Ted is still looking at him instead of the TV or the argument or the very lovely ladies they share the embassy with. 

Ted blinks, surprised by his own staring. “What what?” he asks back, blushing a bit at having been caught.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“I…” What is he supposed to say? That he’s having trouble with the fact that he’s already seen the death of the vibrant young man before him? “... just can’t believe it.”

“What?” Michael demands, scowling.

And Ted grins back at him mischievously. “How ugly you are.”

Michael snorts, punches him in the arm, and returns his attention to the TV. “Oh, man, this episode is a _classic_!” he exclaims in delight.

“It’s brand new!” protests Black Canary, while Ice warns, “No spoilers!”

*

The first time they kiss is completely by accident. How do you _accidentally_ kiss your friend, one might wonder? Simple! You get swept up in adrenaline and the overwhelming gratitude that they’re still standing next to you － _I still have thirty years,_ Ted can’t stop thinking. _Thank god. Thank hell. Thank whoever. I still have thirty years to save him._ － and then suddenly you’re making out on top of rubble.

When Booster’s hand moves to Beetle’s hip, he seems to suddenly realize what he’s doing and trips over himself when he suddenly pulls away. “I－ I－ Uh, I－” Booster Gold struggles.

“I…” says Blue Beetle. He blushes and adjusts his goggles sheepishly. “I’m just really glad you’re still alive.”

Booster glances away, also blushing. “Uh, yeah, me too… Buddy.”

He’s awkward for the rest of the mission and the journey home, and all night, Ted loses sleep to wondering if this one stupid mistake has cost him his friendship with Booster. It hurts a bit, but he can deal. He still has at least thirty years to figure out how to save Booster Gold, even if they were never friends for more than several months.

The next morning, however, everything is surprisingly normal. Michael greets him with a radiant smile, teases him, hangs off his shoulders. And the kiss never gets talked about again. Ted is surprisingly okay with that. He’d do anything to keep from losing him.

*

“—when I get back,” Booster Gold is telling a rather squarish Skeets when Blue Beetle comes up the stairs to the roof. He's facing away from Beetle so Beetle's able to pause a moment to consider the sight before him. There's something odd about the way Booster holds himself, but more noticeably, his hair has grown longer and is thinning slightly in back. This is clearly a Booster from the future. Their own future, he means. Booster was already from the future, but… oh nevermind. 

Beetle takes the last couple steps on the roof, forcing a broad smile to hide his uneasy stomach. “Back from where?” he asks, wondering if Booster will actually tell him. 

“Beetle!” Booster cries, startling like a cat with its… paw in the… cookie jar? No, that’s not how that goes. Point is, he looks guilty.

“The one and only!” says Blue Beetle. “What are you doing up here on the roof? I've been looking all over the embassy for you!” Well, that's a lie. He looked for about five minutes before giving up, because Booster is never hard to find when he's around, but it seems like future stuff might involve lying, so Beetle’s game for giving him an easy opening. 

“I… Uh… needed to clear my head,” Booster lies. “Think some things through.”

Beetle can't help giggling at that because Booster is an absolutely terrible liar. He can't believe so many journalists actually believe and publish Booster’s self-aggrandizing ramblings. He covers it by teasing, “Thinking? You? Come now!”

Beetle makes his way to the Bug and begins to unlock it. He realizes that Booster is still standing there, watching him. Beetle feels a bit like a stuck bug. “Hey… ah…” Beetle asks a bit awkwardly. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Nothing!” Booster says quickly, following him into the Bug without thought. “I just…”

Beetle briefly considers asking him what's up in a more serious manner, but there are only two reasons that Booster would travel back to such a mundane moment: Either he’s bored and wants to relive the glory days, or this particular moment is a lot less mundane than Beetle thinks it is. And both of these situations call for childish humor because there is nothing on earth comparable to Booster Gold’s smile. “Is there a booger hanging out of my nose?” he teases with a silly grin. 

Booster huffs out a surprised laugh. The kind of laugh where Booster wasn't intending or expecting to laugh, but can't help it around Beetle. It's Beetle’s favorite variety. “Relax, buddy,” he says as Beetle takes a seat in the cockpit and begins preflight checks and warming up the engines. “You are 100% booger free.”

“Then what are you looking at?” Beetle asks somewhat absently. 

“I… I just can't believe…”

Beetle glances back at his best friend worriedly. “What?” he asks. 

And Booster smiles his big, brilliant smile and says, “How ugly you are!”

*

When Michael leaves to return to the 25th century, Ted loses weeks of sleep. He’s absolutely certain that this is how it happens. Returning to his own time, to an era where things like working Time Spheres are easily accessible in museums, is how Booster Gold will discover his true calling. He’ll become the hero he was meant to be while Ted is left behind in the 20th century.

He’s not jealous; he’s _terrified_. Booster is so far beyond his reach, how could he ever warn him? How could he ever be there when it happens? He _needs_ to be next to Booster when he’s old! He needs to be next to him to save him!

And then… And then Michael comes back. He comes back with his twin sister, Michelle, and she’s even more vibrant, more sparkling than him. She’s nothing like the worried old woman Ted met those few years ago, and he’s so happy he could cry. Michael is staying. Michael is staying next to Ted, and he’s never going to leave again.

*

The first time Michael and Ted have sex is a lot like the first time they kissed. (There may or may not have been other kisses in similar situations. They will never tell.) Except there’s a lot more alcohol involved. The party is mundane, a Kord Industries brown-nosing thing, but he takes Michael along despite the awkwardness of it because he’s just so glad to be through yet another villainous disaster with his best friend still intact, and there’s no way he’s going to let him out of his sight again anytime soon.

Which is how they end up both holding the other up - drunk leading the drunk - all the way to Ted’s apartment. Stumbling through first the front door, and then the bedroom door, and then crashing onto the bed. Ted doesn’t even realize they’ve started making out again until the bed hits his knees and then the mattress hits his back. And then Michael is crawling over him with a growling noise and a desperate hunger in his eyes that goes straight to Ted’s groin, and then clothes start fleeing to the floor somehow.

Men… The idea of being with another man… It’s a novelty that Ted sometimes plays with when alone and bored and horny. It has never been a serious thought. He’s confident in his attraction to women, and he certainly doesn’t have a hard time getting them. (Get it? Hard time? *wink*) It just sometimes seems like it could maybe be an interesting experiment with someone he trusts, though there is absolutely no way he could brave suggesting it to someone he trusts.

Unless, apparently, you get him drunk enough. Then again, with Michael pulling at his hair and sucking on his neck, he’s pretty sure he’s not the instigator here. Funny. He kind of thought the jock would be more repressed about this than the nerd. You learn something new every day.

It’s not… great. They just end up dizzily rubbing against each other for about an hour or so until they eventually fall into unconsciousness. Alcohol might help initiate a sexual encounter, but it does tend to inhibit completing one. But at the same time, it’s more intimacy than Ted has ever felt with Michael before, and it’s thrilling. It’s thrilling to be wanted this way, accepted this way, by the person he cares about the absolute most. (And when had that happened?)

Ted is awoken by the sound of Michael swearing quietly to himself as he struggles into his pants and searches around for his shirt. Ted can’t hear what he’s saying very well, but he’s clearly upset. Chest aching, Ted turns over to shove his face in the pillow before he can say something stupid.

There’s a long moment of silence so still that Ted can hear his heartbeat like thunder in his ears. Michael has obviously noticed him move and is waiting to see if he’s awake. Ted doesn’t want to have this conversation. He doesn’t want to hear Michael apologize and say what a mistake it was. He wants to take back all the alcohol and never fuck up so badly again.

Apparently assured that Ted is, in fact, still asleep, Michael bolts from the room and from the apartment like a frightened rabbit, leaving Ted to mournfully pray that he hasn’t ruined everything forever. If Michael hates him, he won’t be able to live with himself.

If Michael hates him, he’ll never be able to save Booster Gold.

This time, Michael doesn’t blow it off in a day. He’s embarrassed and evasive and keeps finding other people to team up with. The team has noticed, cocking eyebrows at Booster, at Beetle, at each other as they wonder what the hell is going on. But the last thing that’s going to help is announcing the whole fiasco. So Ted shrugs the looks off with his own look of warning, keeps his mouth shut, and lets himself sulk the moment he’s alone. He has to try to find a way to fix this.

But after about a week (nine days, to be exact), it fixes itself. Slowly, Booster has come around. More and more, he can look Ted in the eyes without looking away with blatant shame on his face. He can laugh at Beetle’s jokes without forcing it. And he finally, _finally_ puts his arm around Ted’s shoulders again and insists that they _have_ to be partners on this mission. Blue and Gold together, forever.

*

Ted is getting pretty fucking tired of Michael being unable to decide what he wants, so he stops waiting. Stops pining. He’ll ruin their friendship that way, and he desperately, _desperately_ needs to stay friends if he’s going to save the older Booster Gold.

So he forces himself to stop getting completely wasted with Michael (a few beers among a larger group of friends is much, much safer) and start going out with women who actually want to see him in the morning.

*

The second time they have sex, it’s not even with the right Booster.

Blue Beetle lands his Bug on the JLI roof, steps off, and sees a man standing there who definitely had not been there a minute ago. He’s wearing jeans and a parka instead of the shiny gold uniform, his hair has been cut short again (probably to hide the fact that it is definitely thinning in more than that one spot now), and the way he stands hunched and still and somber reeks of someone who is absolutely miserable.

Ted’s heart breaks at the sight of him. “Michael?” he asks quietly. He shuts the door of the Bug without taking his eyes off the man, still not as old as the Booster who died in his arms years and years ago, but much closer than he’s ever seen so far. He’s kind of afraid that if he turns away, the man will disappear again like a mirage. “What are you doing here?” he asks. He approaches carefully, hands spread, like he thinks this future Michael is going to startle and run. (He kind of looks like he might do just that.)

“I… I just…” Michael tries to speak, but the words come out as barely audible squeaks. He ducks his head into his hand, obviously trying not to cry. He stumbles slightly, so unbelievably fragile.

Ted’s arms are around him before he knows it, pulling his best friend into a tight hug, Michael’s face buried in his shoulder. Michael lets loose horrid, body-wracking sobs into Ted’s shoulder, his knees nearly giving out as he clings to Ted desperately. “Michael, what happened?” he asks as he rubs circles into the back of a version of his best friend that is nearly twice his age. And then, more importantly, “Why did you have to come here? What went wrong?”

Michael makes a broken sound, leans back a little to wipe his face but not enough to look Ted in the eye, and says, “Please… Please, Ted, don’t ask. Don’t ask me about the future. Please.”

“But why would－?”

And then Michael’s mouth is on his, desperate and overeager and maybe a little bit cannibalistic. Ted briefly considers vocalizing that joke in order to goad some answers out of his friend, but then Michael shoves him up against the side of the Bug with a leg between his thighs, and Ted loses his train of thought entirely. Without even thinking about it, Ted gropes for the Bug’s door handle and pulls it open, and they tumble in together, and Michael is laughing. And all of this weirdness has been completely worth it for the warmth in his belly at being able to make his friend laugh when he was so clearly distraught. Michael mumbles something that sounds a lot like “I’ve missed you,” and Ted isn’t sure, he wants to ask, but then Michael is unzipping Ted’s costume and mouthing at Ted’s neck and－

No.

No, fuck that.

“Michael, _stop it_ ,” Ted snaps, pushing the older man up off of him.

It takes a second for Michael’s desperate lust to subside and then he’s just confused and hurt. “Wh－ Ted, I…”

“I don’t want to hear one word out of you unless it’s an explanation, Mister!” Ted says, angrily jabbing a finger at his friend’s chest.

Michael looks away guiltily and sits back on his heels, which lets Ted sit up cross-legged, and－ And were they really about to fuck on the floor of the Bug? Dear god, he needs to get his life together. “I’m sorry, I thought I－ I mean all the times that we－” Michael stutters. He sighs and tries again. “I thought that you, um, liked me like that, so it would be okay if I, um, y’know, came back and…”

“Of course, I like you like that, you dolt!” Ted cries in exasperation. Somewhat dramatically, he tosses his hands up with an exhausted sigh and falls back down against the floor as Michael just stares at him in confusion. “I’ve been trying for years to get you to see why we kept having ‘accidental’ makeouts, but you never did, so I just gave up!”

Michael continues staring down at him. “But… you only did it when drunk, until… uh… around this time, actually.”

“And you always left!” Ted counters. “Every single time, you left without even talking to me! And then you’d give me the cold shoulder for a week until you forgot about it!”

“I didn’t forget about it!” Michael insists. “I couldn’t－ AGH!” Michael pulls at his hair and glares down at Ted like this is somehow _his_ fault, which Ted refuses to accept as a possibility. “Look, I wasn’t the only one acting like nothing happened,” he insists. “You’re from the twentieth century! I didn’t actually expect you to be genuinely interested beyond a few stray gropings.”

Ted raises an eyebrow at that. “Michael, we have gay people in the twentieth century,” he says, laughing a little because his friend is an idiot. “Not that I am gay. I mean, I don’t know? I like women _and_ you? Ugh, point is, we’ve had gay people forever, and you’re being ridiculous.”

Now it’s Michael’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “You don’t have an abundance of _out_ people who are known for being happy, well-adjusted, and secure in their safety.”

That gives Ted pause. “Are you saying… _this_ ,” he gestures to himself and Michael to imply their irregular makeout sessions, “is normal in the 25th century?”

Michael shrugs. “I mean, people are still assholes, but there were like six out queer guys on my team, and another teammate who started transitioning about half-way through the season, which was a bit of a mess, but we worked it out, and－”

“Transitioning where?” Ted asks, feeling like he’s been left behind in his own conversation. He was never good with sports.

Michael snickers at him. “You’re going to enjoy the next few dec－” And then he suddenly cuts himself off and looks guilty, but it’s gone in a second, and he’s flashing that brilliant, fake-as-hell commercial smile again. “I mean, it’s great! There’s going to be all new jargon and tons of groups coming forward and history being made and－”

“Michael, I’m not an idiot,” Ted huffs. “Why would you come back in time just to see me? I should be accessible to you in your own timeline! And you come to me a crying mess? _Missing me_?”

Michael looks horrified. “Oh god. Oh god, I’m an idiot. Ted, I－”

“Look, you can fix this,” says Ted.

Michael looks like he might throw up. “No, no, Ted, I－”

“Stop being a baby!” Ted insists. “Look, you don’t know how important this is! How important _we_ are.” If he’s not with Michael, how will he protect him?

“Ted－”

“Just say you’re sorry,” Ted snaps. “Whatever we got in a tiff about, just say you’re sorry. And then I’ll say I’m sorry. And, presumably, I’ll remember this and realize I’m being an idiot. There isn’t anything that’s going to come between us. There _can’t_ be anything to come between us.”

Michael looks… in awe? In… something else? “No,” he says finally, quietly. “You’re right. No fight will come between us.”

“Good,” Ted says with a decisive nod. He points to the still open door of the Bug. “Now go apologize.”

Instead, Michael leans over him with a smirk and asks, “Awe, no kiss goodbye?”

“You have a me in your own timeline to kiss you hello,” Ted reminds him.

Something like doubt flickers across Michael’s face and then he’s all lascivious grin again. “What can I say?” he teases. “I’ve been lured away by a younger man.”

Ted laughs and rolls his eyes and kisses Michael because he is terrible at telling Michael “no,” and because he has missed those lips so very, very much.

And then they fuck on the floor of the Bug because Ted absolutely does _not_ have his life together.

The next morning, Ted isn’t surprised this time to wake up alone. He hasn’t been ditched by a Michael that refuses to believe Ted would sleep with him sober; he’s been ditched by a Michael that needs to get home to his own timeline before he screws something up exponentially.

Hopefully, no one wonders where he was, and thank god the costume covers the hickies. Luckily, most everyone appears to be out, except Guy who is scowling down at his bowl of cereal at the kitchen counter because he is awake in the morning and that is never good.

“Morning, Guy!” Ted says cheerily just to annoy him.

“Nnk,” says Guy.

Ted grabs the jug of milk from the fridge and searches the cabinet for his own cereal.

“Hey, Beetle?” says Guy.

“Mhm?”

“Next time you and Gold decide to fuck on the roof, make sure to fuckin’ warn people so they don’t use that entrance.”

Ted very nearly drops the milk on the floor. He quickly shoves it back in the fridge and turns to Guy. “Guy? Guy, you cannot mention this to Booster,” he pleads urgently. 

Guy raises an eyebrow. “Was it not him?”

“No, it was－ It doesn’t matter who it was! You can _not_ tease him about this!”

“You’re not exactly makin’ a motivating argument here.”

“I will pay you.”

Guy blinks up at him sleepily. Then, “How much?”

“Uh…” Ted fishes his wallet out of his utility belt and glances inside. “Ten… twenty… two… seven… Twenty-seven dollars?”

Guy laughs like that’s the most hilarious thing he’s ever heard, and Ted scowls at him. “Hey, not everyone carries around absurd amounts of cash just in case they happen to get the sudden and urgent whim to go to the strip club!” he objects. Of course, there’s also the fact that science experiments are very expensive, but he's not going to talk about his money problems to Guy Gardner of all people. 

Guy just snorts and rolls his eyes. “Whatever,” he says. He holds out his hand for Ted’s cash anyway. With a sigh, Ted relinquishes the money.

*

Ted doesn’t act on his future information that Michael is as into the “friends with benefits” idea as he is with any immediacy. Michael’s found a new girlfriend, and Ted doesn’t want to complicate things. He is… surprisingly not jealous. It takes him a while to figure out why that is. It seems like he should be. But, in the end, he realizes that he doesn’t care if Michael loves other people. In fact, he’s genuinely happy for him. He wants his friend to have as much love in his life as possible. He just needs the security of knowing that new love won’t shove away an old friend, and now that future-Booster has given him that, it really is impossible to be anything but encouraging of Michael’s new relationships.

The next date Ted goes on, there’s no pettiness, no desire to prove anything. Just a genuine desire to get to know a nice girl and maybe get to know her bed, too. It goes much better than his last several dates, and for the first time in a long time, Ted is actually certain that everything will be fine.

*

When Michelle dies, Ted very, very carefully does not lose his shit. He can't. He can't lose his shit, because Michael has lost his shit so completely they'll have to go to Narnia to find it again. 

Ted shoves down the shock and grief that something like this could even happen in the first place. He shoves aside the anger and frustration that they can't find so much as a finger bone, an earing to actually bury. He shoves down the confusion and desperation over what this means for the timeline - Was the old Michelle he met a fake? Someone who took on the name for whatever reason? A clone? Or was she real and this was proof that the timeline can be changed? But in which direction? Is she saved somehow, plucked out of time before her death, and that is the old Michelle that he already met? Or did someone else change the timeline to kill her, and his memories are now false, somehow protected by direct interaction with the time travelers? With his best friend's blood? God, what is he going to do? What does this change? Does he still have thirty years or is it much, much less? 

Every time his thoughts drift to such worries, though, he quickly redirects them to the mess of a man that barely leaves his room anymore. Booster needs him to be strong, to be resolute, because Booster can't be right now. He blames himself. For bringing her back to the 20th century with him. For letting her follow him into heroism. For letting her ever look up to him, believe in him, in the first place. 

And the truly horrible thing is that some of the others seem to think so, too. When the people aren't avoiding Michael because his grief makes them uncomfortable, they're shooting dirty looks at him. It's ridiculous and unfair! Michelle was a grown woman, capable of evaluating risks for herself and making her own decisions about which risks she's willing to take. Michelle knew damn well what could happen in this career, and she’d decided to do it anyway. Michael's feelings were understandable — deep grief colors one's perceptions. But the others should be more supportive. That's what a team is supposed to be for. 

So Ted devotes himself to making up for their lack. He makes sure that Michael showers at least twice a week. He makes sure Michael eats at least twice a day. He makes sure Michael gets out of bed and does _something_ even if it's just watching Daytime soaps. 

And he stops sleeping. He gets an hour or two here and there when his weary body finally crashes, but when he's left alone in the dark at night, everything he's suppressed through the day comes flooding back in a wave of grief, uncertainty, and terror.

With all this overwhelming support and esteem, Ted can't say he's surprised when Booster finally leaves the team. Ted tries to assure himself that it's okay. He still has maybe thirty more years to save Boosters life.

Maybe.

*

“BEETLE!”

Ted nearly jumps out of his skin as Booster Gold (???) slides to a stop at the doorway of the study that Beetle probably should not have been reading a girlie magazine in. “Jeeze Louise! Give a guy a little warning when you come barging in on him!” he objects, stuffing the magazine into a desk drawer that he totally intends to blame on Guy later. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Don't worry! You're not due for _that_ for another few years!” Booster all but shouts at him at rapid speed. 

“What are you talking abou—” And then the words sink in. “Hey… Wait a minute! You're not _Booster_ Booster! You're the _other_ Booster! The one from the future with the thinning hair!” Welp, Ted's gonna have to find a cardiologist now.

“ _My hair isn't thinning!_ ” Booster objects even more loudly. They've had this argument before, from Ted's point of view, but he's not sure how old it is with Booster. That's the trouble with time travelers; you never know if you've already run a joke into the ground or not.

Still, his staunch denial is downright adorable. “What are you worried about?” Ted continues to tease him. “They've got this spray-on hair in a can that—”

“Nevermind that!” Booster objects with a huff. “I want you to answer a question for me!”

“About what?” Ted asks curiously. 

“That time you were a chipmunk and that madwoman ate you—”

“Oh please,” Ted begs with a laugh. “I've been trying to repress that memory since it happened!” It was the first time that a future Booster had appeared to him, with exception of the time Booster died. 

“I know it wasn't your finest hour,” Booster admits, “but tell me one thing: How did you get out?”

“Tickled her with my tail?” Ted teases. 

“Be serious, will you?” Booster demands. Ted nearly rolls his eyes. Future Booster was often less fun than his own Booster. 

“Okay, okay,” Ted says, holding up his hands in surrender. “I sloshed around in her gastric juices for a while… And, _believe me_ , that was no picnic. And then…”

“And then?” Booster presses. 

“The spell wore off,” Beetle says with a shrug. 

“It wore off?” Booster repeats, disbelieving. “But the queen on that sorcerer's world said there was no way to reverse it! I thought you were gonna stay a chipmunk forever!”

“Yeah, well, I think that's exactly what she wanted us to think,” Beetle admits. “In case you've forgotten, I _really_ pissed her off.”

“That you did,” Booster laughs. “So… what? Estrogina just upchucked you?”

“Yeah, but you _know_ that,” Ted says, confused. “You were there. So… why all the questions? You writing some kind of memoir or something?”

“Something like that,” Booster laughs, adjusting some doohickey on his glove, and Ted realizes that he's leaving already and it feels like a punch to the gut. 

“So… you wanna go out for a beer or something?” Ted asks a bit desperately. “Maybe take in a movie?”

Booster is paying absolutely no attention as he moves on to fiddling with a different device, strapped around his wrist. “Where's _your_ Booster?” he asks. 

“Oh,” Beetle says. He blushes a bit as he looks aside, running a hand nervously through his hair. “He got himself all mixed up with some bunch of jerks called the Conglomerate. Can't even get him to return my calls.” _And it's absolutely killing me,_ he doesn't say. 

Booster seems completely unbothered. “I really shouldn't say this,” he says, “but don't sweat the Conglomerate thing.” He drops his wrist and turns to face Ted, already beginning to glow with coronal energy. “It’s just a phase. The two of you will be up to your old tricks before you know it.”

Ted is so relieved that he has to fight the urge to kiss Booster. “Promise?”

“On my word as a knuckle head,” Booster teases, the sight of him now more rainbow lights than physical form. 

“Hey, but what about all those questions?” Beetle demands, but Booster is already gone, slipped back into the time stream, leaving an utterly confused Blue Beetle behind. Why would he come by just to ask these questions? There's no way that Booster would actually do his own work on a memoir, and he already knows what happened. Unless… “Wait a second… Did you just SKIP TO THE END OF THE BOOK TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS?!” he screeches in disbelief at the empty space where Booster had been standing.

Fire ducks her head into the doorway to see what all the commotion is about. “What is all this commotion about?” she asks.

“BOOSTER FUCKING GOLD!” Blue Beetle cries, throwing up his hands in exasperation.

“Booster’s back?”

“NO!” Beetle informs her.

“Ooookay,” says Fire, inching back from the door. “I’m just gonna go tell Gardner that you’ve gone crazy.”

“OKAY!”

Fire retreats, and Beetle just cannot believe that Booster used him as a temporal Cliff’s Notes, and now that that image is in his head, Beetle is laughing so hard he can barely breathe. His friends are absolutely certain that he’s lost it, but he doesn’t care.

He thinks he might be in love with Booster Gold.

*

When Booster Gold does come back to the League, he is not dating anyone, and Ted is not dating anyone, and, completely sober, Ted pulls him down and kisses him hard to make it very, very clear that yes, he does like Booster when he’s not drunk, and yes, he absolutely wants to bed his best friend, and no, Booster is not allowed to leave _ever again_. 

The third time they have sex, it is absolutely with the _right_ Booster Gold.

And the fourth time…

And the fifth time…

And the sixth time…

*

Barbara Gordon is absolutely amazing. She’s smart, she’s witty, she’s sexy, she’s badass, and she takes no shits. And when he finally confessed the nature of his sexuality and his complicated relationship with Booster (because it didn’t feel right to kiss such a wonderful woman under false pretenses), she's understanding, gives the matter some thought, and decides to keep her and Ted's thing (whatever that thing even is) going anyway.

The only problem these days is that she doesn’t believe him.

Batman doesn't believe him. Superman, despite the theft of 100 lbs of kryptonite from Kord Industries storage, doesn't believe him. Wonder Woman does, vouch ingredients for him, but even then Martian Manhunter refuses to give the matter of embezzlement from Kord Industries and Wayne Enterprises or this mysterious OMAC project any more of the League's attention. 

But Booster Gold believes him. Booster believes him without question and nearly dies for it. A computer blows up in his face thanks to a strike from above, and that is just the _final straw_. All that time together, all those plans, and he nearly loses the man he swore to save to a _computer fire_?!! Fuck that. He is going to track down this villain and…

The villain, as it turns out, is Maxwell Lord. He’s been playing the whole League all along. He made Justice League International an ineffectual laughing stock for years to further his own goals which are, of course, world domination. Why is it always world domination? Max never even been a _mayor_ , what makes him think he can run the whole world?

Of course, Max says it’s to give Earth back to true, unpowered humans, but Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are more human than Max will ever be, so… yeah, it’s obviously world domination. And it’s so unbelievably insulting, makes Beetle shake with rage, when Max actually has the audacity to offer him a chunk of that empire.

Beetle tells him exactly where he can stick that chunk. Well… technically, he says, “Go to hell, Max,” but you get the idea.

And then Max raises his pistol, and the thing that eats Ted up so much, more than being outplayed, more than having his honor and dignity insulted, more than the fact that he was _used_ by a dear friend who is now going to _kill_ him? The thing that really tears him up is the fact that he’s not going to be around to save－

“TED!”

And that's when Booster Gold comes crashing in out of nowhere with… Dan Garrett? And… Ted doesn't know the other two, in their weirdly form-fitting armor, but they also seem to be beetle-themed. Ted, however, has the good sense to save the questions until after they've kicked Max’s ass and made a run for it. 

In the Time Sphere, Booster reveals that he has begun working for Rip Hunter ( _finally_ ) and, against Hunter’s wishes, went back in time to save Beetle’s life with the help of… other Beetles. Jaime Reyes is the teenager who accidentally fuses with the scarab which is apparently actually an alien artifact ( _what_ ), and Black Beetle is… from the future. No details provided because they're supposedly irrelevant. 

Ted tries to stay positive, he does. From the way Booster won't stop grinning and won't stop clinging to him, the man has obviously been through a lot. But… it doesn't sit right with him. Why would Hunter refuse to save him? How will Jaime’s timeline remain stable without Ted's death? 

According to Black Beetle, the matter is simple: Jaime and Dan will be returned to their own times with their memories replaced, and Ted will remain in hiding, playing dead, so that the temporal narrative remains as it was. This would have been impossible with Hunter's technology, which is why he was against trying, but Black Beetle is from even further in the future and has more advanced equipment. 

Black Beetle, as it turns out, is a total liar.

Without Ted's death to warn them of Max's true intentions, the Justice League doesn't act anywhere near quick enough, and OMACs have been released across the world, killing people left and right while transforming others into more OMACs. Almost everyone they've ever known has been murdered or turned. Superman himself is under Max’s mind control. All that's left now is a few ragtag heroes. Green Arrow, Hawkman, Wild Dog, Anthro, and Pantha. 

Ted's stomach squirms. He remembers that Hunter had insisted to Booster that Ted could not be saved. He looks up at the man next to him, so different from who he once was but not yet who he's going to be, and he remembers that he needs twenty more years if he's going to save Booster Gold. So he pushes away any thoughts of Hunter’s objections and moves forward with the plan to storm Max's castle. 

Green Arrow is turned into an OMAC. The others die. Booster and Beetle barely escape, thanks to a pilfered Mother Box. 

Beetle’s stomach is trying to escape through his esophagus. Nothing is right. Nothing is right, and nothing is okay. His friends are dying all because… all because… 

Booster insists they can still fix this. They just need a new plan. They still have time. They still have each other. They can do this. 

Beetle looks down at the Mother Box in his hand. Twenty more years… They still have time. 

They find Fire, Ice, and Guy. They find Mr. Miracle and Martian Manhunter, but Big Barda is dead. Ted resists the urge to puke and makes a plan instead. And it works. It does. They finally get their hands on Maxwell Lord. 

But it is all too little too late. The battle rages. They're far outnumbered by OMACs and by the temporal villains that organized this whole mess, and the last heroes on earth are slaughtered one by one. Even Booster Gold is starting to fade from reality, his existence erased by all they've donem

And when he spots Black Beetle _and_ his Time Sphere, Ted knows what he has to do. He makes a run for it. He barely beets Black Beetle to the sphere. They fight. Booster hits Black Beetle in the back with a blast from his gauntlets, but he's reaching to pull Ted out, and Ted has no choice but to slam the door in his increasingly transparent face. 

“TED! TED!” Booster screams, pounding on the side of the Time Sphere as Beetle prepares for the flight home. “PLEASE! TED! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS! WE CAN STILL FIX THIS! PLEASE! TED! COME BACK!”

The sphere begins to glow and vibrate, and Ted stands from the controls, makes his way to the window where Booster is pleading with him, tears and snot running down a face smeared with ash and blood. Booster presses his hand to the glass like he's making one last grasp for his best friend. 

Ted presses his hand to the glass, palm aligned with Booster’s. 

“Ted…” Booster sobs, lonely and broken. “Please…”

“When you think of me…” Ted says, and he forces a smile because that's how he wants to be remembered. “... try to laugh.” And then he giggles because he is probably going insane. Oh well. At least he won't be going much further. 

One would think that time travel would be instantaneous, but it's not. The journey back to his first trip to Max’s castle is just long enough to really sink in what it is that he's doing. What it means. 

The thing is, Ted Kord doesn't want to die. He doesn't. He wants to run away somewhere far and remote and kiss Michael Jon Carter until they're old and wrinkly. Hell, he just wants to live twenty more years to ensure that Michael actually _gets_ old and wrinkly. But you can't always get what you want. 

The trip is long. It is just long enough to cry, to scream, and to vomit. He doesn't want to die. He doesn't want to let Booster die. He doesn't. But the price is too high. Far too high. If he would willingly trade his friends, his loved ones, the entire planet just so he and Michael could have a chance together (And they can't. They can't because Michael is fading. And far worse than letting Michael die is being the one to kill him.), then what is even the point of being Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. 

He chose to be a hero. So he'll be a hero. He gets up off his knees and starts looking for the self-destruct. There'll be no point to all this if he dies just to hand over a Time Sphere to Max.

When he steps out of the Time Sphere, Max is pulling himself back to his feet, face bloody and furious. He grabs up his gun and storms toward Ted. “I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!!” he rages. 

Ted just rolls his eyes. “Yeah, obviously,” he says, and it's something of a point of pride that he dies flipping Maxwell Lord the double bird. 

Ted Kord never was the man who saved Booster Gold’s life, but what he never realized was that he was already the man who saved Booster Gold’s soul. 


End file.
